Chicken Marinara

Place 8-9 boneless, skinless chicken breast into the crock pot

In blender, blend marinara sauce:

2 14oz cans of drained, cut tomatoes
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
1 small can tomato paste
2 tsp minced garlic or 3-4 garlic cloves
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp basil
1/2 TBSP honey

Pour sauce over the chicken and cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours.

30-45 minutes prior to dinner, remove the chicken breasts leaving the marinara sauce in the pot. Put setting onto HIGH and add 3 cups or 16oz of dry pasta. (Stir every 10 minutes until the pasta is soft.)

Put chicken onto a shallow baking pan and top with parmesan cheese or mozarella cheese or both. Broil for a few minutes to melt and brown the cheese. Serve with the pasta.

*A kid pleaser, except for my 8 year old that doesn't believe that macaroni pasta tastes the same as spaghetti noodles...they're just different shapes. OH MY HECK, anyway!

Asian Sesame Chicken

Place 6-7 boneless skinless chicken breasts into the crock pot

Mix together 1 recipe of Asian Sesame Salad Dressing and pour over the chicken:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tsp garlic or 1-2 minced cloves
1 TBSP sugar or 1/2 TBSP of honey
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Cook on HIGH for 4-5 hours or LOW for 6-7 hours.

We scoop out the chicken to cool and serve on top of green salad along with:

toasted slivered almonds
toasted sesame seeds
mandarin oranges or pineapple
Asian Sesame Salad Dressing (recipe is above for this)

My boys ate the chicken with rice and used the sauce in the crock pot to pour over the chicken and rice.

*OK, wow...this was GOOD. And the Asian Sesame Dressing we will be using for salads often. Yum. (It was a tiny bit salty, so I'll just use low sodium soy sauce next time.) I must have really loved this one because I dreamed about it last night. Ha! I loved how this meal pleased those of us that wanted salad AND the younger ones that wanted chicken and rice without salad.